Aberdeen University Employee Investigated After Saying She Hoped Ann Widdecombe Suffered “Extremely Painful Death”

The University of Aberdeen has launched an internal review after a staff member posted on social media that she hoped Ann Widdecombe suffered an “extremely painful death”

Heather Herbert, a web developer at the university, wrote on her Bluesky account: “Some good news for once. I hope it was an extremely painful death.”

She later wrote: “I hope she was handcuffed to the bed as she screamed in agony.”

In case you can’t tell, Heather Herbert is a member of the LGBT community, a group that Widdecombe frequently clashed with, owing to her support for conversion therapy and opposition to LGBT rights in general.

Obviously Ann Widdecombe held some deeply unpopular views, especially in this day and age, but to celebrate her death and hope it was painful? Well, you’ve got to be a little sick in the head, to be fair.

One user replied to Herbert: “I was never a fan of the woman and I certainly didn’t agree with her politics, but saying that about a fellow human is awful. There’s enough hatred in this world.”

Herbert replied: “I’m done with being nice to pieces of human garbage like her.”

If there’s one thing I’ll say in Heather Herbert’s defence; it’s that she wrote the posts on Friday, after Widdecombe’s passing was announced but before police revealed they were treating the death as murder.

Would she have still written those things if she knew 78-year-old Widdecombe had been bludgeoned to death by an intruder? Probably. After all – it sounds like it was the “extremely painful death” she was wishing for.

A university spokesperson said: “The University is aware of social media posts made by a member of staff regarding the death of Ann Widdecombe and is reviewing this as a matter of priority.

“The comments that have been shared are entirely the individual’s own and do not represent the views of the University of Aberdeen.

“Complaints into any member of staff are handled confidentially through our established processes.”

University principal and vice-chancellor Professor Peter Edwards added: “Ann Widdecombe was a highly respected figure in both the Westminster and European parliaments.

“The University of Aberdeen does not tolerate violence or hateful behaviour in any form.

“We are aware of the incident and the concerns that have been raised.

“We are looking into the matter as a priority.”

For a look at the final WhatsApp messages that Ann sent out 11 minutes before she was murdered, click HERE.